In a bottling plant, beverages are normally prepared using water which is treated to reduce hardness, ensure sterility, and remove suspended solids and dissolved organic matter. Precipitation methods are common and these can also reduce iron and heavy metal content of the water to some degree. Recent concerns regarding sodium and nitrate will also require additional treatment, where these components appear in the water to an unacceptable degree. In summary, water purification is an essential part of soft drink production in a bottling plant, since water is the major ingredient.
Soft drink dispensing systems using syrup also require a water supply. The water used is often from the city water mains, but does not receive full treatment. As the full water treatment technology applied in bottling plants is complex, requires careful process control, is specific to a particular water quality, and is normally not suitable for small-scale use, it has heretobefore been impossible to apply such techniques to post-mix dispensers.
Ion-exchange systems can be used in miniature form but these systems require regeneration, can be a source of micrological contamination, and only remove dissolved salts, whereas precipitation methods used in bottling plants have a much broader purification effect. More sophisticated methods, such as reverse osmosis, are also capable of application on a small-scale, but these are expensive and require considerable maintenance.
Accordingly, a need in the art exists for a simple and effective water treatment apparatus for use in a post-mix dispenser. This apparatus should be easy and inexpensive to operate as well as to manufacture. The apparatus should have the purification advantages of those found in bottling plants but should be appropriate for use in smaller dispensers. In particular, the water treating apparatus should reduce hardness, ensure sterility and remove suspended solids and dissolved organic matter from the water. Further, the device should remove sodium and nitrate from the water as well as dissolved salts. This apparatus should avoid micrological contamination and should be inexpensive and require little maintenance.